10/2 When Neuroimmune Conditions Become Neurodivergent

For many of us, fatigue isn’t just being tired — it’s our bodies running on fight-or-flight long after the threat is gone. Neuroimmune conditions like lupus, POTS, ME/CFS, and long COVID can cause the nervous and immune systems to misfire, draining energy, impairing focus, and blurring the line between mental and physical exhaustion.

Join DNA for a discussion on how these conditions shape cognition, energy, and mood, and why they deserve recognition within the neurodiversity framework. As researchers are beginning to show, chronic illness doesn’t just affect the body — it changes how the brain processes signals, regulates inflammation, and manages attention.

Recent studies (e.g., Komaroff & Bateman, Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2021) highlight that neuroinflammation and immune dysregulation in conditions like ME/CFS and long COVID can disrupt communication between the immune system and the central nervous system - leading to symptoms such as cognitive slowing, “brain fog,” and sensory hypersensitivity. These are not psychological effects but physiological expressions of a brain under chronic immune stress.

We’ll talk about:

• How the immune system impacts the brain, and what current research says about neuroinflammation and cognitive fatigue.

• What chronic fatigue really feels like - and why rest doesn’t always help when the body’s stress system can’t switch off.

• The emotional toll of “fluctuating disability” - never knowing when your energy will hold up.

• How to pace your life without guilt - practical strategies for balancing rest, productivity, and self-compassion.

For many students, these conversations mean being seen for the first time - not as “lazy” or “burnt out,” but as people navigating complex neuroimmune realities that affect both mind and body.